Darnell

McDonald

Crawford is batting just .192 against left-handed pitching this season and is 2-for-17 (.118) lifetime against Thursday’s starter Ricky Romero. Darnell McDonald will make the start in left field Thursday.

Again with McDonald? He’s still hitting a pathetic .226/.286/.347 for Ottawa. Tim Raines Jr. was more deserving of the promotion, so maybe the decision to bring up McDonald shows that the team only wanted someone for the couple of days remaining before David Segui returns.

Crawford was scratched from the first half of the doubleheader after tweaking his neck while taking a swing in the cage. It’s not clear when he’ll be ready to return to the lineup. Conor Jackson will play left field in the nightcap while Darnell McDonald starts in right.

Crawford has missed three straight games because of stiffness in his neck, including both halves of Monday’s doubleheader against the Orioles. The Red Sox aren’t guessing when he might be ready to return to action. Darnell McDonald and Conor Jackson drew starts in his place on Monday.

McDonald might have been left out of Boston’s plans with a completely healthy roster, but he’ll likely make the team and see plenty of action early on if Carl Crawford starts on the DL as expected. He certainly hasn’t hurt his case by starting 8-for-16 with two homers this spring.

Ellsbury injured the shoulder while getting tangled up with Reid Brignac at second base during Friday’s game. The severity of the injury isn’t yet clear, but the Red Sox are already preparing to add someone to the roster on Saturday. Darnell McDonald figures to play on a pretty regular basis for now and is worth considering in AL-only leagues.

There was some talk about Aviles as a leadoff hitter in spring training, and he’ll have an opportunity to see regular at-bats there with Jacoby Ellsbury (shoulder) sidelined. He figures to see an uptick in production if he can hold onto the job. Cody Ross is starting in center field and batting sixth. Darnell McDonald is batting ninth.

Terrible news for the Red Sox and fantasy owners alike. Ellsbury injured the shoulder when Reid Brignac landed directly on top of him at second base during Friday’s game. He was immediately sent to Massachusetts General Hospital for an MRI, but he’s scheduled to undergo even more tests to make sure the shoulder did not sustain additional damage. Darnell McDonald, Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney will start in the Red Sox outfield, at least until Carl Crawford comes off the disabled list.

Uh-oh. Crawford began playing in extended spring training games last week after straining his elbow earlier this month, but he has apparently suffered some sort of setback. Just because he’s visiting Dr. Andrews doesn’t mean he will ultimately require surgery, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be able to make it back in early May as previously estimated. Stay tuned.

It seems likely to be a longer than minimum stay on the DL. McDonald is batting just .179/.277/.357 this season, so he won’t be terribly missed.